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ENGINEERING VISIT REPORT

Customer Titan Frozen Fruit
Date of Visit July 27th, 2016 Report by Michael Straight
Oracle Number 148557
Site Location Santa Maria, CA
Customer Contact Eric Duyck, Sergio Hernández
Intralox Team Members Mike McCormack, Michael Straight

Objective
Examine IQF Takeaway Strawberry Elevator Conveyor with a view towards retrofit to ThermoDrive® 8026.

Summary
Successful conversion of the IQF Takeaway Strawberry Elevator Conveyor to ThermoDrive® 8026 PU will
require adding 3 position limiters, spacing return wheels to ride in flight indents and center notch and changing
the existing Van der Graaf drum motor to have a shell meeting specific ThermoDrive® requirements.

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Observations

Application Information Additional Comments

Current Technology: Modular Plastic Belt Drive:
Product Conveyed: Frozen strawberries  Returning belt close to shaker
Belt Style: Flat Top  Rubber discharge chute
Belt Color: White  Limiter placement may be challenging
Belt Width: 38 inches (VERIFY)
Idle:
Between Frame: 38+ inches (VERIFY)
 Discrete take up
Overall Belt Length: About 50 feet (VERIFY)  Some fruit escapes past edge of chute
Drive Diameter: About 6.5 inches (VERIFY)
Drive Style:
Carryway:
Van der Graaf drum motor
 Looks already okay for ThermoDrive®
Drive Location: Discharge
 Belt contained on smooth stainless
Idle Diameter: approximately 6.5 inches
Idle Style: Roller Returnway:
Loading Method: Chute over end  Approximate 5 foot accumulation spans
Carryway Material: UHMW  Drip pan close to returning belt
Carryway Design:  Belt passes close to belt lifter
Parallel
 Belt contained on smooth stainless
Returnway Design: Wheels
 One square corner under idle end
Operating Time: About 100 days/year (VERIFY)
 Berry debris accumulating in drip pans
Returning belt passes closer to edge of takeaway shaker underneath drive and close to edge of drip pan:

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Rubber discharge chute:

Position limiters must be mounted 165º from where the belt enters the drive.

Brackets (provided by Titan) for holding limiters may be able to be attached to the bar holding the discharge
chute, but the rubber chute itself is likely to need notches cut into it to get limiters in the proper location.

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The idle end take up with limited discrete settings is generally an ideal arrangement for ThermoDrive®:

Adjustment of belt sag is accommodated, while accidental excess tension is less likely than with a screw.
Some of the fruit accumulating at the idle end is escaping around the feed chute:

Belt is contained by stainless steel sides along the conveyor.

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Along the returnway, the belt is contained by stainless steel legs and by straps supporting return wheels:

Since the ThermoDrive® belt is thinner, VERIFY that fold down sides are low enough for belt containment.
The drip pan is close to the returning belt.

There is one spot along the returnway, under the idle, where the stainless steel presents a square corner:

Returning belt passes close to a belt lifting mechanism.

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Recommendations

Application Information Additional Comments

Technology: ThermoDrive® Drive:
Belt Series: 8026  Make sure belt ¼” narrower than frame
Belt Style: Embedded Diamond Top  Change motor shell to one for S8026
Belt Material: (6.3 mm) PU  Center Limiters in indents and notch
Belt Color: Blue with White Flights  Trim chute if needed to mount limiters
Belt Ends: Prepared for splice  Position Limiters snug, but not pinching
Belt Width: 38 inches (VERIFY) Idle:
Flight Height: Alternating ½ inch and ¼ inch  Make sure belt ¼” narrower than frame
Flight Spacing: 6 inches  Smooth frame where belt enters take up
Flight Indent: 1 ¼ inches (VERIFY)  Adjust take up: loose, unobstructed belt
Number of Notches: 1
Carryway:
Notch Width: 1 ¼ inches (VERIFY)
 Make sure support rail ends chamfered
Overall Belt Length: 55 feet (VERIFY)  Verify that rails keep belt in containment
Drive Diameter: 6.4 inch P.D.
Drive Style:
Returnway:
Van der Graaf drum motor
 Make sure belt ¼” narrower than frame
Limiter Size: 6.4 inch P.D.
 Verify wheels ½” narrower than notch
Limiter Style: EZ Clean - Universal
 Center wheels in indents and notch
Limiter Quantity: 3

CLEARANCE

In addition to making sure that the belt is ¼ inch narrower than the between frame dimension, consider the
clearance under the fold down sides of the frame. The clearance under the fold down sides, when in operating
position, needs to be arranged so that the thinner ThermoDrive® belt edges are contained by the sides and
cannot work into the clearance. Ideally, everything will check out as is; but this detail could not be closely
examined during operation. If there is a risk of belt edges working their way into the clearance under the fold
down sides, it may be necessary for outboard carryway rails to be replaced with slightly taller rails to get the
belt edges up to where they are contained between the sides.

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Position limiters and returnway support rollers must fit in the flight indents and notches with clearance. The

strawberry incline has shorter flights, and a drum motor. Also, the flights can be white and need a center notch;
but the principle is the same: fixed items that the flights pass need clearance. The recommended position
limiters are ¾ inch thick. If the returnway support rollers are also ¾ inch thick, then the belt can be
manufactured with 1 ¼ inch wide indents and center notch. Centering ¾ inch thick position limiters and
returnway support rollers into 1 ¼ inch wide spaces produces ¼ inch nominal clearance on each side of each
limiter or roller. This ¼ inch nominal clearance allows the belt to drift 0.125 inch either direction, per the diagram
on the previous page, and another 0.125 inch clearance would still remain.
If the returnway rollers are thicker than ¾ inch; then flight indents and center notch will need to be wider. Also,
if the belt is narrower than just ¼ inch less than the between frame dimension, then it will be free to drift more
and the flight indents and center notch would again need to be wider.
Whatever width the indents have, Titan may wish to cover the top of the indent with UHMW blocks as the belt
approaches the drum motor, so that strawberries are moved into the flights and are less likely to fall over the
edge of the belt onto the drip pan underneath.

DRUM MOTOR
Most vulcanized, lagged or rubber shells on drum motors are too soft to be successful with ThermoDrive®,
however Van der Graaf has been successful in producing drum motors for ThermoDrive® with stainless steel
shells. Intralox can provide Van der Graaf with the exact outer geometry required for a 6.4 inch pitch diameter,
ThermoDrive® Series 8026 drive shell. Whether that proper shell can be retrofit to the existing drum motor is
not Intralox’s area of expertise, but Intralox may be able to provide a referral to a shell manufacturer.

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CONTAINMENT
All of the stainless steel containing the belt: fold down sides along the carryway, legs along the returnway, etc.
must present a smooth surface to the passing belt edge. One spot was noticed where this may be an issue.
Sand and buff the lower inside edges of the take up assembly so that there is no chance that the frame can
cut against the passing belt. The belt should be ¼” narrower than the narrowest between frame dimensions.

LENGTH ADJUSTMENT
It is probably easiest to splice the ThermoDrive® with the take up all the way forward to create a little slack for
splicing. After splicing, the take up may be moved back just enough so that the returning belt.

Intralox Follow-Up Actions

 Stay in touch with Titan to make sure these comments are understood.

 Work with Titan to nail down the few dimensions that must be verified.

 Provide drive geometry to shell manufacturer.

 Continue the discussion with whoever performs the upgrade.

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